More recently, the rabid furor and hype over refined fructose (and especially High-fructose corn syrup or HFCS) has only added to this. If reports I’m seeing are right, the consumption of fructose and/or HFCS will make you fat, drive up blood pressure and make your muscles fall off. HFCS is responsible for the problems with the economy (when Obama isn’t being blamed), the war in Iraq and just general human meanness and unhappiness. Ok, I may be exaggerating slightly but it’s only slightly.

As well, there has long been a secondary data set (seemingly ignored by anti-protein folks) showing that higher protein diets actually IMPROVE bone healing following things such as breaks or fractures. Clearly the idea that ‘protein is bad for bone’ is a bit more complicated than just a soundbite. The review paper I want to look at today examines the topic in some detail.

A combined research review looking at the issue of static stretching and high-intensity exercise performance along with data suggesting that ancient man was refining and consuming grains far earlier than originally assumed.

Because that’s the real issue: there’s no debate that foods differing in GI generate different blood glucose responses, there is indication that this impacts on the insulin response. But the bottom line question is whether those differences in hormonal response actually meaningfully affect anything.

Which brings me in a roundabout way to the issue of today’s research review on soy protein and thyroid function. As per usual, there are camps on both sides of the debate for soy protein having either a beneficial or negative effect on thyroid hormones. And also as per usual, the truth of the matter, in terms of how soy protein affects thyroid hormones lies somewhere in the middle and depends on other factors. Today’s review looks at them.

Fundamentally, my belief is that, given identical macro-nutrient intakes (in terms of protein, carbs, and fats) that there is going to be little difference in terms of bodily response to a given meal. There may be small differences mind you (and of course research supports that) but, overall, they are not large. And certainly not of the magnitude that many make it sound like.

After the necessary introduction, the paper first looks at changes in the patterns of beverage consumption within the US. They point out that by 2004, Americans were consuming over 135 gallons of fluids other than water or about 1.5 liter per day. Basically, Americans are drinking a lot but it isn’t water; by definition it must be something else.

And now, as we enter 2009, if there is a single nutrient that is blamed for everything that is wrong in the world, it is high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Much of this started with a 2004 paper by Bray where he correlated changes in HFCS intake with changes in obesity, suggesting that it was the increase in HFCS intake that was driving obesity. This was taken, as usual, far out of context into the popular realm of magazines, newspapers and tv soundbites.

There has been growing interest in the potential use of bovine milk as an exercise beverage, especially during recovery from resistance training and endurance sports. Based on the limited research, milk appears to be an effective post-resistance exercise beverage that results in favourable acute alterations in protein metabolism. Milk consumption acutely increases muscle protein synthesis, leading to an improved net muscle protein balance. Furthermore, when post-exercise milk consumption is combined with resistance training (12 weeks minimum), greater increases in muscle hypertrophy and lean mass have been observed.

Due to methodological issues that I won’t detail, determining what fatty acids were actually essential was actually a fairly difficult problem in the early part of the 20th century. In early research, it was thought that there were three EFAs, alpha-linoleic acid (ALA, not to be confused with alpha-lipoic acid, an insulin sensitizer), linolenic acid (LA), and arachidonic acid (AA). When it was found that rats could make AA out of LA, it was dropped, leaving two EFAs. I’d note that, at one point, it was thought that LA was the only EFA but, as we now know, both ALA and LA are essential fatty acids.